In recent years, a display element of an image display device such as a television receiver is shifting from a conventional Braun tube to a thin display panel such as a liquid crystal panel or a plasma display panel. This enables the image display device to have a reduced thickness. A liquid crystal panel used for a liquid crystal display device does not emit light, and thus a backlight unit is required as a separate lighting device. The backlight unit is broadly classified into a direct type and an edge light type according to its structure. In order to achieve a much thinner structure of the liquid crystal display device, it is preferable to use the edge light type backlight unit, and a structure described in the following Patent Document 1 has been known as one example thereof.
The backlight unit described in the Patent Document 1 is provided with a light guide plate, an LED located opposite to an end portion of the light guide plate, an LED board on which the LED is mounted, and a lead frame that electrically connects the LED board to a power supply board in an external portion. The lead frame is structured such that a clip shaped terminal formed in one end side is soldered to the LED board, and a tabular terminal formed in the other end side is soldered to the power supply board in the external portion, thereby relaying a power supply to the LED board.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-133394